A true conservative, a Christian, and a Tennessean, I hope to contribute my two-cents on politics, policy issues, life, and sports.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Bestiality Bill Passes in Washington

Those people who love their livestock - and I mean really love their livestock - will have to cross Washington off of their lists of favorite states. It appears that Washington will become the 37th state in the Union to make bestiality illegal. This bill quickly worked its way through the state legislature after a man died while having sex with a horse.

"On July 2, James Tait and the 45-year-old Seattle man went onto a neighbor's property to have sex with a horse, charging papers say. The Seattle man sustained a perforated colon and died from his injuries.

Tait, who authorities say helped run a nearby farm where people had sex with animals, pleaded guilty in November to criminal trespass.

He was given a one-year suspended sentence on condition he pay a $300 fine, perform eight hours of community service and have no contact with the owners of the horse in the incident.The horse owners said police showed them a home video of the incident that investigators had seized from Tait's home. The couple identified their barn and horse."I am beginning to see that "normal behavior" is in the decline, this conclusion coming from my work in the courts of Tennessee and through cases like this.

For those who are curious, Tennessee does not have an entire statute that deals specifically with bestiality. However, it is counted as one of the 37 states where bestiality is illegal due to T.C.A. Section 39-13-511, which counts bestiality as one of the crimes of public indecency punishable as a Class B Misdemeanor and a $500 fine. However, what is not clear is if the bestiality occurred in a private place (or, more specifically, in a place that fell outside of the definition of a public place in the statute) whether this would be illegal. Based on my reading, I would think that a prosecutor bringing such a charge would be in for an uphill battle.